Technology Trader

Still Dour About Dell, and DOA at Motorola

A skeptical eye on Dell.

DELL WAS SO EXCITED TO REPORT ITS JULY-QUARTER earnings Thursday that it jumped the gun. Instead of waiting until the close of trading, the way everyone else does it, Dell issued its release at 3:57 p.m., after having mistakenly posted some of the financial data on its Website a few minutes earlier.

But who can blame the PC giant? Good news has been in short supply at Dell (ticker: DELL) lately-and for once the numbers were better than expected. Revenue and profit both edged past Wall Street expectations. Gross margin...